Official: Greer dumping too much acetone into wastewater

Greer Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company on Nuway Circle, has been discharging more acetone than allowed in its wastewater, a Lenoir city official said.

Greer’s discharge pipes were tested three times throughout 2013, with one pipe found to be discharging an unacceptable amount of acetone all three times, said Monte Wall, superintendent for wastewater treatment for Lenoir. In the most recent test, in December, the company was found to be discharging roughly 10 milligrams of acetone per liter of wastewater, more than twice its permitted allowance of 4.62 milligrams per liter, Wall said.

The waste went to the city’s Lower Creek sewage treatment facility. Acetone, a common solvent with a number of uses in labs and manufacturing, is easily treated, Wall said. No acetone was released into Lower Creek or into the city’s drinking water, he said.

Wall said Greer has already taken some steps to bring its discharges into compliance.